Marley is STILL a puppy. He's not quite 9 months old, and still learning how to behave. Marley really likes to be up about 7am and one of us (nearly always me) needs to be up with him. If he whines for us (me) to be up with him and we tell him "go to bed", he'll whine again. If we think we've gotten him to settle so we can sleep a bit longer ... think again. That's when he selects something to destroy.
So far ... half of one sheepskin slipper, part of the heel of one of Tom's daily wear shoes, a ball point pen, my mammogram results notice, a battery operated flashing rubber ducky (he killed the devil & ate a batter, (we had to sacrifice the angel to know how many batteries had been in the devil) and so on ... In the past he's also "eaten" sticks and cans - eaten as in swallow (or try to swallow) pieces.
So, this morning we were up at 6am for a potty break, then (I thought) back to bed. Around 7:30am he whined his little "get up with me" whine and I got up. From the bathroom I looked to my left and ... Damn it! There was a shadow too big to be one of his toys. (At 7:30am this time of year we barely have any natural light yet, since sunrise is around 8:30.)
Sure enough, it was one of Tom's shoes. He'd eaten part of the heel area a while back. He'd nibbled a bit more a week or two later. He'd replaced the shoes, but was still wearing the old ones. Not anymore. They were hikers, but the left heel area is now floppy in back and along one side. Now, he's going to have to wear the new ones.
This time I really let Marley know how unhappy I was. Not only did he get a scolding as soon as I found it, but I didn't stop there. I didn't let him have his usual morning treat (a Kong ball with slots around it that I "stuff" with flavored "paste". That keeps him busy for a few minutes while I start coffee and otherwise prepare to get ready to face the day ... A bit later, I picked up the shoe and went near him to ask "what did you do?!" in a very negative voice. Wow! He cringed under the dining table, then slunk to the bedroom and crawled under the bed (not as easy as it used to be). He stayed there more than a half hour. He didn't come back out until after Tom had gotten up.
After a bit, it was clear he wasn't going to "make up" until a peace offering was proffered. I set up his ball with liver flavored paste (new flavor) and gave it to him without making him work for it at all; not even finding the ball and bringing it to me. Not long after he finished all the liver goo, he came and wanted lots of loving, petting, leaning, etc. I hope we don't have to do this too many times in the future.
What a morning. At least it didn't require a visit to the vet.
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